


can we be seventeen (if we still have the right)

by fannishtendencies



Series: ignire and lunar hearts among us aus [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Among Us (Video Game) Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending (kinda), Everyone Needs Therapy, F/M, Lillie Needs Therapy, Locust Rzenritwicz is a Human Being, depending on whether ur happy ending has people alive, half of this is born of sleep deprivation so no editing, it was just ":)" in my docs so this is an upgrade, lotsa OCs, luna deserves better part one, lunar hearts au, songfic near the end - seventeen heathers, yes i know the name is too long no i do not care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27198013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fannishtendencies/pseuds/fannishtendencies
Summary: Ten enter the Skeld, fresh from the Training Academy. Eager to get out into the final frontier.At the Academy, there were rumors of things that crawled through the shadows. Creatures that slithered in the darkness, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Once you boarded a ship, you signed your death sentence.Now, they must find out for themselves if those rumors are true.-Lunar Hearts cast but it's Among Us and more angst. You thought the last impostor was angst? Unfortunately, this is worse. Trigger warnings at the end.
Relationships: Gladio | Gladion & Lilie | Lillie, Gladion/Luna Kajiba (OC), Lillie & Luna Kajiba (OC), Luna & Ottie & Silv (OCs), Sun & Moon - Relationship, implied Hau/Lillie, implied past Locust Rzenritwicz (OC)/Luna Kajiba (OC)
Series: ignire and lunar hearts among us aus [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981981
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1





	can we be seventeen (if we still have the right)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Fate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23388136) by [Moonbreeze19](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonbreeze19/pseuds/Moonbreeze19). 



> ow i hurt myself writing this anyway cry away nerds

The round begins.

None have died.

Yet.

~°~°~°~°~

"Thank you for your service," the dingy robotic voice echoes in my ears. I nod halfheartedly, then wish I could take it back.  _ Stupid. Don't nod at robots, people will think you're insane. _

I return to Storage for a second round of fuel. Gladion is there, in his full black suit, and I scoff and ignore him. He was a case for sure. We had both attended the Training Academy for… what was it? Two years? Throughout we'd had something of a rivalry, if you could even call it that. He got some of the highest scores ever  _ seen _ . He was too good for me, way out of my league.

Not that I'd ever tell him that.

I bend over and start pumping gasoline, reviewing in my mind who was on the ship. Gladion, the edgelord himself. Lillie, his sister, who's the kindest girl I've ever met, if quiet. My best friend, Ottie, and my sister, Silv, both of whom I trust with my life. Hau, a lively and loveable guy who came from another Academy. Sun and Moon, two graduates who were supervising us newbies - they had seen the horrors of space before and survived - Autumn, and…

Ugh, Locust.

Oh, and me. Luna.

So that made ten. Eight of us Moon and Sun need to keep alive for a year.

Locust enters the room, his dark green instantly setting my mind aflame with rage. Despite the fact that my face is covered, I scowl at him and hope my body language conveys the rest as I shove past him, lugging the gasoline to Upper Engine. I don't pass anyone as I make my way through the quiet hallways, the lights flickering then and again, sending chills down my spine.

At the Academy, there were rumors of  _ things  _ that crawled through the shadows. Creatures that slithered in the darkness, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Once you boarded a ship, you signed your death sentence.

I know that these ships brought back dead bodies. I know that this is for real. This isn't a game. But really? Monsters with big and sharp teeth, red eyes that tore your soul?

I don't believe it. Because I know better.

Monsters are people. Monsters live among us, but they don't have sharpened claws that shred your flesh. They have soothing words, and slick glances, and ways to worm themselves into your heart. They break you the only way they can - by ruining your very being.

There are too many ways to kill a person. Not all of them involve a knife.

Some of them involve a kiss.

~°~°~°~°~°~

_ Two  _ _ Impostors _ _ Remain. _

~°~°~°~°~°~

I'm waking up to the sound of sirens. I grumble, running through the scenarios in my foggy head.  _ Lillie must have pressed it in panic. Or maybe Moon is running some tests. Hau better not be pulling any pranks. _

The air is sucked from my lungs, however, when I see the body.

Autumn's corpse lies on the table, her orange suit shredded to titanium threads. Her face is mangled, her neck twisted, and I feel the bile rising in my throat. It's not the first dead body I've seen, but it's the first I've had the fortune to see up close.

My head swims. "Where?" I ask, voice quiet yet loud against the empty silence. It's protocol ingrained in me, even though I had pushed it to the edges of my memory. Hoping, praying that I wouldn't have to go through this scenario. 

"Electrical," Gladion answers, and for the first time in a month I see his face, his helmet taken off in mourning. His eyes are unreadable, closed off, and I feel a pang of sympathy.  _ He must have been the one who reported _ .

He shares a look with Lillie, who grabs his hand and squeezes. I look away from her tears, partly to cover my own and partly because I don't want to meet Gladion's eyes. 

"Do you have any ideas on who it could be?" Moon asks, voice clipped. There was something in her eyes, harsh, unsure, but I attributed it to grief. Looking around the table, I saw it in everyone. If I had a mirror, I would've seen it in myself as well.

"I didn't see anyone nearby." Gladion shifts on his feet. "I was running scans to see if everything was up to code."

Moon and Sun exchange glances, then nod once. Sun turns back to us, trying to smile. The attempt is sour at best. "Go back to bed, everyone. We need rest. We'll hold a funeral in the morning."

~°~°~°~°~°~

_ Orange _ _ is  _ _ dead _ _. _

Two  Impostors remain.

~°~°~°~°~°~

The funeral is bleak. We don't wear black, due to our color assignments, but we assume a circle of mourning position. Moon and Sun had put the body in a white suit, unused and untarnished. Autumn's body lay on her chest, hands clasped around a single white lily. 

"May you find rest in another world," Sun says solemnly, eyes shut tight. I can't even imagine what must be going on through his and Moon's heads, but I feel the urge to hug them. Instead, I hold on tighter to Ottie and Silv.

Bits and pieces of the funereal fade in and out of my mind. I drift through it, thoughts swirling out of my grasp. I can't seem to anchor myself to the fact that someone died, or even worse - that it could happen to me, or Silv, or Ottie.

Afterwards I lock myself in my room, playing the piano as I lose myself to the melody, letting the notes wrap around me like a cocoon. Nobody can reach me here, not Autumn's ghost, not Locust, not Gladion…

I am alone in my misery, but at least it wasn't my mistake.

~°~°~°~°~°~

I wish I could say things go back to normal. I wish I could say that the death was a fluke, that the rest of our journey through the stars was uneventful. I wish I had the stupid confidence in our survival that Locust did.

But I don't. The only thing my brain repeats now is  _ we're going to die here _ .

I exit the Cafeteria and head towards the Oxygen quadrant. Hau is enthusiastically shooting at asteroids in Weapons, and I briefly join him and Lillie, who quietly cheers him on. "Go, Hau…" She bounces in place on her heels, the faint blush of pink in her cheeks a shade lighter than her suit, and I smile. For the first time in forever, I smile.

Gladion walks in, and I expect my good mood to fade, but it doesn't.  _ Weird _ . Maybe we were bonding over not-dying to whatever lived on this ship? Best not to think about it too much, I guess.

He leans over Hau's clenched shoulders, and growls something under his breath into the other teen's ear. I not-so-subtly try to shift closer, catching the words "closer" and "faster". 

Advice for the asteroids?

_ Or _ , my mind thinks darkly,  _ advice for the next kill _ ?

_ No, no way _ . I shake away these thoughts.  _ Hau makes pancakes with faces on them and takes pictures with an old-fashioned snap camera. He can't possibly… _

What was it everyone said, though? "The nice ones are always sus"? Either way, I had to stay on guard. Silv would bring me back from the dead and then kill me again if I died.

I move on, biting my lip. The scene before me had been almost like before. Maybe things were finally getting better.

~°~°~°~°~°~

By far, the worst sabotage this impostor has done yet is the Reactor Set Off. 

Reactors are such a big part of this stupid fucking ship that they get a whole room. Without them, we would be left stranded in the middle of Arceus-knew-where, unable to function. Then, we'd slowly lose our regenerative water and food supplies, and after that, the oxygen. 

So when the sirens start up again, I do my best not to flinch, dropping away from the trash chute I was working on. I can't waste these precious seconds, half seconds. I will  _ not  _ be the one to kill us all.

The pounding of my blood blocks out most of the noise, but my brain hyperfocuses on my crewmate's shouts. Lillie's frightened screams, Gladion's shouting not-very-comforting words, Moon yelling for us to  _ hurry, hurry, hurry _ . 

But my mind can't comprehend the emergency state. I stumble on air, nearly falling face-first into Locust, whose normally smug grin is replaced with unadulterated fear. I shove his arm away, straight into Reactor, and I slam my hand onto the nearest red panel.

The sirens turn off. The loud horns quiet. I feel my breathing turn back to normal and allow myself to check the timer.

_ Five seconds _ .

We were five seconds from death.

I turn and wait to face the other person who helped literally save us all, but nobody else is here.

Instead, I'm greeted with the faint rumbling under my feet.

~°~°~°~°~°~

We call an emergency meeting the next day. Or rather, Gladion calls an emergency meeting.

We gather around the table, and I let out a brief sigh of relief, thanking Arceus that nobody has died. Still, I grimace at the red "x" that hovers near Autumn's portrait. Her death permeates everything, even after three months.

Gladion is blunt and goes straight to the point. "It's Locust." He crosses his arms and glances around the table, ever so subtly meet my eye. Gauging my reaction. I meet his stare with my own challenge, even as my cheeks heat. His eyes are clear green crystals, reflecting my glare back at me, amplified.

Locust is quick to protest, but I interrupt him. Arceus knows we don't need another second of his stupid voice filling the air. "Do you have proof?" I ask Gladion, my voice not as professional as I'd like. I see Moon nod in approval out of the corner of my eye.

Gladion expects this, of course. "Locust often hangs by himself, excluded from the group," he starts, then is interrupted by His Smugness himself.

"That's because you all hate me," he retorts hotly. It's semi-true. I hate him for my own reasons, and in solidarity Ottie and Silv also hate him. Gladion hates him because he's Gladion, and honestly, deep down I think Lillie hates him too. Moon and Sun are visibly tired of his antics, and Hau… well.

Hau tries to protest this statement, but Locust waves it away, something unrecognizable in his eyes. Almost like pain. "You don't have to lie to me, Hau. I know that I've been… a mess. But I'm trying. I'm  _ trying,  _ okay?"

He looks at me when he says this. As if it means anything to me. Once upon a time, his words could make or break me.

Now they are empty.

"I'm  _ not  _ a murderer."

"This is a serious accusation," Silv chimes in, eyes narrowed at Gladion. "How do we know you aren't just covering for yourself?"

"Yeah! What she said!"

"Shut it, Locust."

Gladion, for what it's worth, is still calm. But I can still see the telltale signs of his frustration; the slight close of his eyes, his hands gripping harder on his arms as if he was using them like a shield. "You didn't let me finish," he says through gritted teeth. "Locust was just outside Reactor when he could've jumped in at any time. Remember, Luna?" He turns to me for the second time, and now I am caught off-guard.

"Yea - Yeah."  _ Dammit. Stop stuttering. Act cool. _ "I know that Locust helped stop my fall, and I wondered why he wasn't running too."

Moon looks thoughtful, and slowly she nods. "I recall that too."

Gladion's face arranges into what I'd call a smile on anyone else. On him, it's moreso a grimace. But his eyes glint with something akin to happiness, and my heart fills. Which is stupid, because we're about to condemn my ex, but whatever.

He turns back to the table. "Multiple witnesses also state that you are suspected of venting. Hau and Lillie, would you like to say it, or should I?"

Hau's glee is way under normal level, almost as if his brightness were turned down. It's uncanny to see him so solemn, and I almost feel like crying.

Almost.

"I remember, when we were hosting the wel - welcoming party," he stammers, refusing to look at Locust. "I saw him enter Nav. Later I found him at the cafeteria, even though I didn't see him leave."

"That's not evidence!" The furious fire in Locust's eyes unnerves me, and I take the smallest step back. "None of what you said was evidence! Where's the cold, hard proof, huh?  _ Where's the body -  _ "

" _ Don't you say that _ ! Don't you  _ fucking _ say that, you asshole!" 

The words rip from my throat without warning, and everyone's gazes turn to me. "We do  _ not  _ need a body to prove that you are… are a horrible person. We don't  _ need  _ another  _ innocent person dead _ . That you even  _ suggest that _ …"

The room is silent, except for my heaving breaths. The emotions swirling in my blood are unbearable, but I still look at him. Look at this  _ monster _ , straight in the eyes, as I pick up the tablet and click the dark green icon.

_ Condemn? [Yes] [No] _

I click yes.

Everyone else votes. In the end, Gladion, Lillie, Silv, Moon and I voted to eject Locust. Hau, Sun and Ottie skipped the vote, though it was too late by then. Locust didn't even touch a tablet before he races out of the room, and I swear, for the first time ever, I see Locust Rzenritwicz cry.

  
  


~°~°~°~°~°~

He is given one last day on the ship. He writes a letter to his family, but other than that, he avoids us. Which is fine by me.

Then, at the end of the "day", Sun opens the hatch. Locust glances around one last time, and his eyes meet mine. Instead of anger, instead of hurt, instead of all the emotions I associate with an impostor, I find that same fear I saw, back when the Reactor nearly shut down. He looks just like a lonely kid, shut out by his peers. Maybe a little full of himself, but still a person.

He utters these words to me.

"I'm sorry."

And in my heart I know that I, Luna Kajiba, have made a terrible mistake.

I watch as the cosmos eat him up, but look away when he suddenly unmasks himself. I hear the gasps, I see the horror etched in all of their faces. But I don't look back.

My tablet blinks once, then twice. I check it.

~°~°~°~°~°~

_ Dark Green _ _ has been  _ _ ejected _ _. _

_ Dark Green _ _ was not an  _ _ Impostor _ _. _

_ Two  _ _ Impostors _ _ remain. _

~°~°~°~°~°~

Numb. That's how I feel. Numb.

I learn to live with the impostor's shenanigans. Reactor meltdowns, oxygen cuts, all of it. I feel hollowed out, like a pumpkin gutted on Halloween. Now I'm only a shell with an empty expression.

My fault. My fault. His death was my fault.

My tasks are done for the day. Hau has invited me to his room with Sun and Silv to play some new simulator. It's all the rage back on Earth, apparently. Somehow, I had mustered a smile and  _ agreed  _ to it. Maybe deep inside of me, something still lives. But if it does, I can't feel it.

I enter Cafeteria, the only real place I feel safe anymore, the red button squarely in the center just waiting to be pressed. But I will never touch it. Not if I don't have to. 

And maybe not even then.

The last time it had been touched, I had sentenced an innocent person to death. My mind had been clouded by his past actions, and my view of him had warped into something unreal. Locust - at the mere thought of him I grimace - was at least trying to become a better person. And how did I reward him?

By killing him.

What kind of person am I?

I cross the room towards the elevator, but not before I pass Gladion, who gives me a tired smile. Under normal circumstances, I might have scowled in return, destined to ignore him forever.

Instead, I awkwardly wave him down. "Hey, um, Hau invited me to play some games. You coming?"  _ Heyo, what the  _ fuck _ , mouth. _

The corner of his lips twitches upward. "Maybe. Why?" he asks, chill as ever. 

My face warms.  _ You dummy! Hau probably already invited him. _ "Of course. Just wanted to make sure."  _ Make sure of what? That you look like an idiot? _

"Yeah. Cool."

"Okay."

Silence. How I detest it.

The elevator door opens, and to my surprise, Gladion walks in with me, at a reasonable distance, of course. No closeness at all.

…

The tunes flowing through the speaker are nice. I tap my foot. "You know this song?"

"No," was the curt reply. Then, slightly more polite, "You?"

"No."

"Ah."

…

_ What do I say? What should I say? Dammit, Gladion, say something! _

…

The elevator finally, finally,  _ finally  _ opens, and I spill out a breath. The awkwardness was palpable, and I'm glad to be out of it. 

"I hate elevators." A simple statement from the edgelord. I give him a raised eyebrow, and he shrugs.

"So do I."  _ Epic bonding moment for sure.  _ "Where's Hau's room?"

"Left. Second door." He leaves his helmet at the door, turns to me, and smiles. Not one of these smile teases like before, and not a grimace-smile either, but a full blown grin. 

And then I say something truly crazy.

"Wanna race?"

And it feels like back at the Academy. Just me and Gladion, running around campus, a prep and a goth. Weirdos regardless. Was there a time when we were friends? Either way, this feels different from when I was running for my life. This feels… childish. Free.

And I laugh as I trail behind him, I laugh as I gain speed and a lead (that I'm almost positive he let me get), and he laughs too. 

I round the corner and press my back to Hau's door, breaths coming in unevenly between laughs. And I just relish this moment, and for once, just once, I let my guard down. I grip the knob as I hear Gladion's footsteps honing in, prepared to be greeted with friendly shouts over video game music.

The silence hits me before anything else. Then, the tangy scent, one I haven't smelled in a month, hits my nose like a freight train, sending tears to my eyes. I feel Gladion's hand brush my shoulder, but just barely, and the hot rush of blood makes my head lighten.

Hau's face is frozen in a glazed smile, his eyes still half-lidded in that charming way. But his chest is ripped open, bones jutting out and blood in so many places I can't properly comprehend it. I clutch my stomach and double over, vomiting onto his carpet, everything mixing into itself. My brain is getting fuzzier, like reality itself is bending.

_ Hau can't be dead. Hau can't be dead. _

Yet the evidence proves otherwise.

And there's only two people that could've killed him.

One person is my friend, my mentor. The other is my sister.

~°~°~°~°~°~

I don't know how I got here. How we got to this.

I screamed, I shouted until my throat was scratchy and raw. My defenses ranged from normal to grasping straws. But I'd rather still be back then, still pushing the words out with every breath, then here and now.

Lillie tore down every word, every syllable that came out of my mouth. After she had no more tears to sob, her eyes took a ferocity I'd never expect from her. She never bit back, never waited a second longer than polite to throw my words back at me. And even though I hate to admit it, I was losing. Losing this argument.

Lillie and Sun voted for Silv. Ottie and I skipped. Moon voted for Sun, a move that elicited something… bad between them.

That left Gladion. Gladion, who I'd counted on to be there for me. Our rivalry had turned into something else. Friendship comes to mind, though the feelings bubbling in my gut say otherwise. I begged him, I pleaded. Just one vote.

But when he looked Lillie in the eye…

I knew it was too late. 

The bond between friends can be incredible. Stronger than anything. But I was foolish enough to think that even after all this time, Gladion thought of me like that. 

Because he loved his sister just as much as I do.

He voted Silv.

And now I'm laying on the floor,

waiting for something to end this pain.

Almost praying that it isn't real.

Almost hoping the Impostor just takes me now.

~°~°~°~°~°~

_ Lime  _ was ejected. 

_ Lime  _ was not an  Impostor.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Of course she wasn't the impostor. Of course. I could have told you that before you had ejected her.

I barely eat. I barely sleep. Her face, now joined with Hau's, Autumn's, Locust's, replays in my mind. Four dead. Four people that I knew, loved, befriended, just… gone. I think back to the rumors at the Training Academy, and almost laugh, though if I did I bet it would sound nothing like a laugh before it. 

It takes everything I have now to get out of my room. Every step I take feels like it leads to another dead body, another failure of mine. Or another meeting with Gladion.

One part of me understands what he did, wants to forgive him. But the other parts fill with primordial rage whenever he enters the room, whenever he's in the same vicinity of me. Hell, the fact that he's on this same fucking ship burns. I won't forgive, and I certainly won't forget.

The only people I trust now are Ottie and Moon.

I can't tell what's worse, the utter pain that splits in my head when the emergency sounds off, or the numb compliance that follows. Back when everyone was alive, I jumped at foghorn ringtones. Now I don't flinch as I find my way to Oxygen, my pace flippant compared to the dash everyone else adopts.

I have lost any and all shits to give. 

I type in the codes until the sirens stop, whoever working in the other room just as fast as me. The life-threatening task done, I trudge back to Cafeteria. It's lunchtime.

I walk in. No dead body greets me. Everyone is just eating. 

It's so normal. I hate it with every fiber of my being, hate how  _ normal  _ everyone can still be. I can't go back to this. I can't…

Lillie takes one look at me and bursts into tears. She's been doing this for the past three weeks, but it's harder to ignore when she's latched onto your shoulders.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobs into my neck. "I know you won't ever forgive me. I know you want to eject me." She pulls back, eyes round and full of tears. So sincere. "If you want, you can vote me out."

" _ Lillie, no! _ " Gladion springs from the bench, grabbing her by the wrists and pulling her away from me. He doesn't, or can't, meet my gaze. "I told you to stop talking like that. It wasn't your fault - "

"Lies!" Ottie gets up, to, and I can see the emotions piling up in her, too. I feel a tiny bit of relief at the fact that I -  _ we _ can still feel. "It's both of your faults. You and Sun and Lillie - " she shoots the most potent death glare I've ever seen " -  _ killed  _ Silv. And you are just going to have to live with that for the rest of your fucking lives."

Lillie's breathing is coming in short and fast, her hands flying to her temple. A twinge of pity squirms in me, because I am also a murderer. But I push it back down, tell myself it's  _ different  _ this time.

It's hard to convince myself that's true.

Lillie runs out, her blonde hair trailing her like a cape. I sprint after her before everyone can process it, because my brain knows too well where she's going. I've gone there too, contemplating whether life was worth living. Whether it would be better just to give up before the Impostor catches me.

I can't let her. I won't.

Gladion, however much blood is on his hands, doesn't deserve to have a dead sister too.

I reach the ejection chamber, where Lillie is peering out one of the big plexiglass windows in the great beyond. Her face is calmer now, cooler, and her eyes shine with a steely determination.

"Lillie. You don't have to do this. I don't - I don't want you to do this."

"I have a debt I must pay," she replies solemnly. "I've always wanted to see the stars up close."

I hear the footfalls pounding. Gladion, cursing and shouting Lillie's name over and over. She grasps my hands and smiles, pressing her cold lips to my cheek. A goodbye kiss.

"Tell my brother I love him."

She pushes me to the wall and straps me in, then slams the red button just as Gladion swings open the door. His eyes flash with a hundred different emotions, like a rainbow. He reaches out, but by then Lillie is already miles away.

The doors close. Gladion falls to his knees, unreadable again, then his face falls into his hands.

I unstrap myself. I close my arms around his small, shaking body, and I whisper to him, "She told me she loved you."

He looks up, directly at me. I expect fury, but all I find is brokenness. Like me.

"I know."

~°~°~°~°~°~

_ Pink  _ was ejected.

_Pink_ was not an Impostor.

_ There are  _ _ 2 Impostors remaining. _

~°~°~°~°~°~

We started with ten, and now we are five. Two lost to ejection, two lost to impostors, one lost to suicide.

And yet, somehow, through the oceans of grief…

Me and Gladion find each other.

It doesn't fix the hurt. It doesn't bring them back. And it certainly doesn't mean I forgot about Silv, or that he forgot about Lillie. 

But we huddle together in my room, arms all tangled up at three am. Our backs are soaked with tears, but right now none are falling. The room echoes our breathing, which falls into a rhythm.  _ His breath, mine, his breath, mine, his breath… _

The thoughts in my mind slow for once. I consider the possibility of him being the Impostor, but find I don't care. Because this, right here?

This is compassion. Connection.

His cheek brushes against mine. He could kill me with a knife or a kiss or a hundred other things, and I'll let him. 

Congratulations, Gladion Aether. You've wormed your way into my - Luna Kajiba's heart. 

I pull my head from it's resting place - his shoulder - and dare to look into his eyes. They are clear, brilliant green, and I swear I see humanity in them. 

I lean in, close my eyes tight, and press my lips lightly onto his. He's surprised, of course, but he kisses me back.

_ He kisses me back. _

I didn't think this day would ever come. Gladion kissing me. If you had told me when I was boarding this ship all the  _ shit  _ that would happen, I'd laugh my ass off.

But it all happened. It's  _ real _ . And right now, this is enough.

~°~°~°~°~°~

For once in the past eight months, I get there on time.

I see Sun just about to stick a knife in Ottie's throat,  _ just about _ . I throttle in him, shouting for Gladion.

Ottie gasps for breath.  _ Alive.  _

Gladion dashes in, then pummels Sun in the stomach. The Impostor slides to the ground, holding his - it's - stomach.

"Ottie! Ottie, speak to me." Gladion at my back, I turn to my fallen friend, and help her up. Her eye is black, and her throat has the smallest cut from Sun's knife, but I'm crying and can't see much else.  _ I saved her. I  _ saved  _ her _ .

"Stay back, Luna," Gladion warns, his eyes still sharp as he tries to keep an eye on me and Sun, whose face has transformed. No longer is there a smiling teenager here to lead us, but a beast of void black, tentacles thrashing. And eyes -  _ so many eyes _ .

I wait for Ottie to turn into that, too. Wait for another betrayal from Gladion, because Hell knows I can take it. I'm done with the sobbing and the feeling sorry for myself. These Impostors have turned us against each other, and I won't hesitate to grab my fucking gun and kill them two hundred times over.

Because dying is easy. Living is harder.

"Moon."

"What?" We all turn to Sun's wretched form.

"The other Impostor… is Moon."

Right out of its mouth.

"We have no time to waste," Gladion shouts, then grabs a nearby emergency gun and shoots whatever Sun is. He shoots again, and again, until he's certain that the Impostor is dead. 

"Ottie, stay here and watch the body. Shoot if you need to - hell, shoot if you  _ want  _ to." He hands over the gun, the bright orange metal clashing with her blue, then grabs my hand. "We have to go kill Moon."

I nod, though inside I feel another earthquake in my trust. Outside of that, though, there's a spark. A spark of hope.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Red  is  dead.

One  Impostor  remains.

~°~°~°~°~°~

We burst into Moon's room, guns raised. Her eyes widen, but then she must see the black sludge on Gladion's suit, or the fearless determination in our eyes, because she doesn't protest.

In fact, she raises her hands in surrender.

"Monster! Beast!" I throw in the words in her face, and she winces, refusing to turn into her true form. "How could you?"

"I didn't want to." Her voice is small. "We were sent to kill the latest human ship. I wanted to find another way, try to convince my colony to  _ talk _ with the humans. If my partner hadn't started killing with Autumn…"

My finger is on the trigger. A question bubbles to my lips, the final one.

"Who did you kill?"

"I didn't - " Her eyes downcast. "Lillie."

I see Gladion's grip tighten, his face go white.

"Lillie commited suicide," I spit.

"I goaded her. Sent her these messages, blaming her for Silv's death. It felt so good to get my frustration out. I didn't think - Sun told me - "

"There's no excuse." Gladion states this flatly, then pulls the trigger as I do. I don't see Moon's face, because I am focusing on Gladion. Only on him.

His face gets a little black on it, and I thumb it off. 

"We did it," I tell Ottie over comms. She gives an affirming noise, and me and Gladion make it back to her in one piece.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Purple  is  dead.

There are 0  Impostors  left.

~°~°~°~°~°~

" _ Yeah, we're damaged, way too damaged, but that does not make us wise… _ "

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I'm not wiser because I was hurt. I'm wiser because I choose to learn from the pain.

" _ We're not special. We're not different. We don't choose who lives or dies. _ "

No matter what my mind tells me, it's not my fault. Sun, and then Moon, were responsible for this mess. I may have played a part in it… but I have to move on from that.

" _ People hurt us, or they vanish, and you're right, that really blows… _ "

It did more than blow, of course. It  _ hurts _ . It's messy and horrible and unfair, and it can undo you as a person. And I don't blame Lillie for what she did. But I have to be stronger than that.

Even when it's really fucking hard.

" _ But we let go, take a deep breath, and go buy some summer clothes… _ "

We enter Earth's atmosphere again in the summertime. Me and Gladion decide to stay in touch. We - me, him, and Ottie - are deigned  _ the survivors _ .

I cry.

I cry for Autumn. I cry for Locust. I cry for Hau. I cry for Silv. I cry for Lillie. I even cry for Moon, my friendship for her gone.

Most of all, I cry for myself.

My innocence was taken away. I was forced to do things no seventeen year old should be forced to do. I carried on, again, again, again, again, again. 

I grieve my past self. But I will start again, Ottie and Gladion by my side. 

" _ Can't we be seventeen, is that so hard to do, if you could let me in, I could be good with you… _ "

Three months in, Gladion asks me out on a date. Shyly, if gruff. Just a karaoke night.

I say yes.

" _ Yeah, we're damaged, badly damaged… _ " He sings along, and I'm surprised he knows the lyrics.

I step closer, the gap between us onstage closing. " _ But your love's too good to lose _ ."

Our hands entwine.

" _ Hold me tighter _ ."

_ Don't stop looking in my eyes _ , I think silently. I grip harder, wishing I could pull him into a hug, though my microphone prevents me.

" _ Even closer _ ."

There's intimacy in this. Everyone else drops away.

" _ I'll stay if I'm what you choose _ ."

His eyes sparkle with affection, and I already know what he's thinking.

" _ Can't we be seventeen? _ "

We can. Or at least, we can try. 

" _ If I am what you choose, _ "

_ So close. _

" _ If we've still got the right, _ "

" _ 'Cause you're the one I choose, _ "

_ I choose you, Gladion. _

" _ You're the one I choose. _ "

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warnings: suicide, graphic violence, brief vomiting


End file.
